In the early dynasties, the queen and Yi Guifei listened to the government, among which there was a young emperor, and then the prince of Gong Yi Yi was the first to pass on the edict, and the queen Niu Colu was the queen mother, and the honorific name was Ci'an. The noble concubine Yehenara is the Queen Mother, and the honorific title is Cixi. Because the emperor was too young to take charge of the government, the empress dowager of the two palaces listened to the government and held the actual power for half a century.

In the first year of Tongzhi, in the first month of 1862, a coup d'état occurred within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, known as the Tianjing Incident. After the Tianjing Incident, Li Xiucheng led his army to attack Shanghai, and the Qing army united with the American Frederick. Townsend Dewall's foreign spear team led to the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Chen Yucheng was betrayed by the traitor Miao Peilin in Shouzhou, arrested, and executed in June of the same year. At this time, Zeng Guofan led the Hunan army to besiege Tianjing, and Hong Xiuquan ordered the Taiping troops from all over the country to come back to help. In the same year, Li Hongzhang attacked southern Jiangsu, Zuo Zongtang attacked Zhejiang, and Tianjing became an isolated city. On December 4, 1863, Tan Shaoguang, the defender of Suzhou, was killed by his subordinates, and Suzhou was lost. On May 11, 1864, Changzhou was lost. On July 19, Tianjing soon fell, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated.

In February 1874, the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Japan sent troops to Taiwan under the pretext that the Taiwanese Gaoshan tribe had mistakenly killed the Ryukyu boat people. On the fifth day of the first month of December, Emperor Tongzhi Zaichun died of illness in the Yangxin Palace at the age of 19. The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces summoned the son of Prince Yixun to join the unification of the Chengda, and gave Yixun the hereditary replacement of the prince, and respected him as Emperor Guangxu in the second year.

On 14 July 1870, Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck issued a provocative Emesian telegram on the Spanish succession, which angered the French Emperor Napoleon III and declared war on Prussia, and the two armies fought in Alsace and Lorraine. The sky was overshadowed by black clouds, making the nearby Rhine lose its original color and become more gray. The two armies bombarded each other, the smoke was billowing and the artillery was full of fire, and then the cavalry rushed to kill each other, and the melee was in the chaos of the army, the horses roared and hissed, and then the French army was defeated one after another, and the emperor Napoleon III led nearly 100,000 French troops to surrender at Sedan . On September 4, the revolution broke out in Paris, the French big bourgeoisie established the French Third Republic, and the Second French Empire was destroyed, but the Prussian army was still marching forward. On January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was crowned Emperor in Versailles, France, establishing the German Empire. The French bourgeoisie demanded an armistice, and on February 26 a peace treaty was signed in Versailles, France, to replace French hegemony on the European continent.

In November 1873, the French led more than 100 troops to capture Hanoi and its vicinity, and the war in Hanoi and other areas was urgent. Vietnam's King Nguyen Phuc Thi requested the rescue of Liu Vinh Phuc, who was stationed in the Bao Sheng area on the Sino-Vietnamese border. After Liu Yongfu received the letter from the king of Vietnam asking for help, he picked up the oil lamp in one hand and stood in front of the wall, looking at the map pasted on the wall, thinking in his heart that Vietnam and China are close neighbors, and the two are cold lips and teeth, and Vietnam is a vassal country of China. So he went out of the account and gathered the Black Flag Army to march towards the area near Hanoi. There are many dense forests here, coupled with many rivers and rapids, which are easy to ambush. So he ordered the Black Flag army to lie in ambush deep in the dense forest, and the other part of the army occupied the high mountain area and waited for the French army to come. Although it is winter, but here is not as cold as winter, more than the miasma blocked, more than 100 French troops groped their way into the dense forest, and after the whole army entered, there were thousands of arrows all around, like rain falling, these French troops were too late to shoot and did not know where this was the army, the shouts of killing on all sides together, they were panicked, and shot indiscriminately. Looking at the flags of the other side, it turned out that these were all Chinese troops. An Ye led the remnants of the army to retreat in a hurry, there were high mountains on both sides of the retreating path, just when they breathed a sigh of relief, they did not expect that the mountains and forests were full of frightened birds, rolling stones and trees, the French army suffered countless casualties, and the French commander An Ye died in the chaos, and had to retreat to southern Vietnam.

On March 15, 1874, the French plenipotentiary negotiated with the Vietnamese plenipotentiary in Saigon. At the negotiating table, the French side threatened: "Vietnam will open the Red River to us and give us various rights and interests such as trade in northern Vietnam, and if you continue to resist, we will shoot at your palace." At this time, the Vietnamese representatives were thinking that the disparity in strength between the Qing court and them was too great, and it was absolutely impossible to rely on the Qing court to protect themselves, and they were forced to sign the "Vietnam-France Treaty of Peace and Alliance" and the "Saigon Treaty" under the pressure of France. In November 1880, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its envoy to Russia, Zeng Jize, stated that France was acting in accordance with the Treaty of Saigon in Vietnam and that France had the right to protect Vietnam. At the beginning of 1881, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again made it clear to Tsang Gi Chak that Vietnam had severed all relations with China.

On May 19, 1881, Liu Yongfu led the Black Flag Army to start a decisive battle at the paper bridge in Huaide Province, moved the earthen artillery and the French army to bombard, its artillery fire was continuous, Li Weiye and his deputy commander Lu Mei below more than 30 officers, more than 200 soldiers were buried in the artillery fire, wolf smoke everywhere, the ground is a mountain of corpses, its military flag is obliquely planted on this hot land, burning in this war, the main general Li Weiye's body will be transported to the barracks. In the meantime, the French continued to increase their forces and formed the North Vietnamese Fleet. In August, the troops were divided into two routes, one part stepping up the offensive against the Black Flag Army, and the other part attacking central Vietnam. The fleet was massed above the sea and bombarded central Vietnam, but the Vietnamese army was defeated and retreated, and the French army approached its capital, Hue, and Hue was forced to surrender. The king of Vietnam sent envoys to demand an armistice, forcing the signing of the Treaty of Hue and obtaining the right to protect Vietnam.

On September 15, 1882, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented its credentials to the Chinese side, which contained two contents: first, the Chinese side must unconditionally withdraw its troops stationed in Vietnam; Second, open the door to Yunnan. The letter was then presented to the imperial court. Emperor Guangxu looked at the letter of state, and his heart was full of anger, but he still had to look at the face of the empress dowager of the two palaces behind him, and said: "The French side put forward two conditions, the first is to withdraw the army; The second is to open the gateway of Yunnan as a commercial port, and you can discuss it. ”

Zhang Zhidong stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Yunnan is the southwest gateway of the Qing Dynasty, if the southwest is opened, not only Yunnan, but also Sichuan and other large areas of land in the southwest will fall into the hands of the French army, and also threaten our Qing Dynasty. Second, the French lost the Franco-Prussian War and urgently needed to expand their gains, and if they won this battle, they would be demoralized. ”

Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Jize stood up and looked up at the court, and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers are willing to lead troops to resist the French army and block them from the country." ”

This statement reached the heart of Emperor Guangxu, and he stood up with joy in his heart, and said: "What the Qing family said is reasonable, send troops to fight against the French army." ”

At this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was sitting in the curtain, said: "The emperor must not be reckless, listen and see more and think more before speaking," Emperor Guangxu turned around and said: "Queen Mother." ”

"Sit down, don't let these ministers see your jokes," Emperor Guangxu felt a little aggrieved in his heart, and then a eunuch sent a letter of state, saying, "Your Majesty, Li Zhongtang sent a letter of state." ”

"Present," after presenting the national letter, Emperor Guangxu passed the national letter to the queen mother of the two palaces behind the curtain. The Empress Dowager Cixi handed the letter of state to the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was sitting next to her, and said, "Sister, you can read it first." ”

"Sister, you have the most assertive opinion, you can read it first," Cixi opened the letter of state, which read: "Saint, since the Opium War, my Qing Dynasty has been in war for many years, its national strength is exhausted, the people are worried, and they cannot fight, and the war will greatly damage the national strength and the people's livelihood will wither. Second, France wanted to open the southwest gateway to the disadvantage of a third country, and the minister negotiated and mediated an agreement with the third country. Li Hongzhang's policy was undoubtedly not a kind of comfort for Cixi, and said: "The pillar of the country, Li Zhongtang is also." Finally, he walked out of the curtain and said to the ministers: "Don't open the provocation by yourself. ”

On October 25, 1882, the commander of the French detachment in the Tokyo Sea Detachment, Gu Ba, ordered the North Vietnamese commander to launch an attack on the Chinese military defense in the Red River Delta. In December 1882, the French army attacked Shanxi, and the Chinese army was forced to resist. On the 16th, Shanxi was occupied. In 1884, Miller succeeded Guba as the commander of the French army, and the strength increased to 16,000 men, and marched towards Bac Ninh. On the 19th, Taiyuan fell.

On June 23, 1884, the French army suddenly shelled the Chinese army position near Lang Son. The Qing army rushed to meet the battle, with countless casualties. In late July, the governor of Liangjiang, Zeng Guoquan, negotiated with Ba Deruo in Shanghai, and the French demanded that the Chinese side must withdraw all Vietnamese troops and pay compensation of 30 million taels of silver. Zeng Guoquan, the governor of Liangjiang, heard this case and left, and then the French army appointed Guba as the commander-in-chief, bombarded Keelung, and supervised the Minister of Taiwan Affairs Liu Mingchuan retreated to Tamsui to resist due to insufficient troops. On the 23rd, the French army raided Mawei in Fuzhou, China, and the two armies engaged in a large-scale naval battle on the sea, in which eleven warships were sunk or wounded under the heavy bombardment of French artillery. The French fleet sailed into Mawei and bombarded the Mawei shipyard, and the surrounding artillery fire rumbled and was destroyed in an instant. At the end of March, when they marched to Zhenhai, the French army was returned fire by the Chinese troops of the Zhaobaoshan Battery, and the rear compartment of the French main ship caught fire and had to retreat.

In February 1885, the French army attacked Langshan, and Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi, retreated without a fight. Ten days later, the French army invaded Zhennan Pass, and then burned the pass due to insufficient troops, retreated to Wenyuan and Langshan, and waited for the opportunity to move. The veteran Feng Zicai was ordered to assist in the military affairs outside the Guangxi Pass, and went to Zhennanguan to rectify the army, deploy the battle guard, and learned that the French army would definitely attack Zhennanguan again. The generals were summoned in the military tent and said: "When the French army invaded Zhennan Pass, they retreated due to lack of troops, and this time they will definitely come out," and then Feng Zicai ordered the guards around him to step forward and open the map, and said: "Zhennan Pass is an important pass leading to my Qing Dynasty, once Zhennan Pass is breached, its southwest gateway will be opened, and Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou will bear the brunt." Then he rushed to build a long wall across the east and west ridges, seven feet high, three miles long, and one zhang wide at the bottom, and dug a trench outside the wall to build a relatively complete defensive position.

On March 23, the French army divided into three routes and once again attacked Zhennan Pass. The soldiers pressed beyond the city wall, the cannon pushed forward, and the French commander rode up on a tall horse and walked forward slowly, pulled out the saber at his waist and waved forward, shouting: "Open the cannon." "Bombarded the wall, and then the army pounced. Seventy-year-old General Feng Zicai wielded a war knife in his hand, personally led the big knife team, shouted and jumped out of the wall to fight with the enemy outside the long wall, and his sons Xianghua and Xiangrong led the officers and soldiers defending the city to jump out of a burst of slashing, this scene inspired the whole army to rush out of the city wall like a torrent of breaking embankments, unstoppable. For a time, the sound of gunfire stopped, the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, the two armies fought into a mess, fighting each other, the enemy's position suddenly became a mess, and then Su Yuanchun, Wang Xiaoqi, Chen Jia led the army to rush out, attacked on three sides, after two days of tenacious fierce fighting, the French army was defeated and retreated.

At this time, the veteran Feng Zicai personally led the army to take advantage of the victory to pursue, and the commander of the French army, Nigri, saw the army coming, shouted and shouted to kill the sky, and immediately fell off his horse and was seriously injured, and the two French generals were captured alive in order to cover Nigri's escape.

The good news reached the imperial court, and after Emperor Guangxu received the good news, he was full of joy and said: "Good! Well played! Passing on this newspaper can boost the fighting spirit of the officers and men of the entire army of the Qing Dynasty, commend the officers who participated in the war, promote the officers by one rank, severely punish the officials who flee in despair, and never use the demotion and beheading or cutting off of posts. Feng Zicai, the old general, gave cloth and grain a thousand stones, and the silver was increased to 200,000 taels and returned to his hometown, and he did not need to report it and issue it directly. ”

Li Hongzhang, the lord of the middle hall, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, everything can be stopped in moderation, and no more wars can be provoked. ”

The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces behind her said, "What strategy does Li Zhongtang have?" ”

"An armistice agreement was signed with the French side, and judging from the whole situation, the enemy army was overwhelmed at sea, and our Qing Dynasty was powerless to fight back. We can take advantage of this armistice, accept and recuperate with the people when we see a good situation, and take the opportunity to recuperate and build a powerful naval warship belonging to our Great Qing Dynasty, only in this way can we resist the invasion of a strong enemy. ”

"Okay, let's do what Li Zhongtang wants."

Emperor Guangxu was still not convinced, and said: "Queen Mother, isn't this our Qing Dynasty admitting defeat?" Didn't the soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front line chill their hearts? ”

"Where the belligerents, the country will be weak, we have been in the Qing Dynasty several wars, it is not suitable to fight again, now only the truce to develop strength, this is my Qing Dynasty in the middle of the move. The ancestor of the Han Dynasty married the princess and his relatives after the setback of Baideng, developed his strength, recuperated, restored and developed the economy, and after 60 years, the economy was prosperous and the national strength was strong. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, Tang Gaozu raised troops to chase the Central Plains, at the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the Turks went south, Emperor Taizong killed horses and formed alliances, married princesses and relatives to stabilize the internal situation, and the national strength became stronger and stronger. The emperor, whoever achieves great things endures the reason why ordinary people can't bear it, develops national strength, and strikes like thunder, just like Emperor Wu and Emperor Taizong, the four seas surrender. ”

On June 9, 1885, the Qing court signed an armistice agreement with France and the "Sino-French New Treaty", China was defeated without defeat, France was victorious, and two treaty ports were opened on the Chinese border. In the future, when China builds railways, it should consult with French operators. China and France sent important personnel to survey the boundary line at the Sino-Vietnamese border, and the French troops withdrew from Taiwan and Penghu. China recognized France's annexation of Annam, and the southwestern gateway to China was opened.

French warships sailed up the Yangtze River, stationed troops in Chongqing, and established a concession, which was protected by Chinese troops.